Liberalism and the Social Problem

1st Edition

In his first two published volumes of speeches Churchill had focused on very narrow campaign themes. Now, in his third volume, and with two ministerial appointments under his belt, he was able to spread his wings a little wider.

In 1904 Churchill had crossed the floor of the House of Commons to take his seat on the Liberal benches. In 1906, after the electoral landslide which brought the Liberals into power, he received his reward in the shape of the Under-Secretaryship of State for the Colonies. Under the nominal direction of his chief, Lord Elgin, Churchill played a significant role in the creation of constitutions for the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. The resignation of Campbell-Bannerman in 1908 due to health issues brought Asquith to power and and saw Chuchill offered his first cabinet post - that of President of the Board of Trade. In this position, and in partnership with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, he entered what was to be his most radical reforming period. Between them the 'Terrible Twins' did much to lay the foundations of the modern welfare state. Among the many accomplishments are included the implementation of the first Old-Age Pensions schemes, the introduction of Labour Exchanges, and the passing of the Miners' Eight Hour bill.

The first two sections from Liberalism and the Social Problem deal with these two first tastes of office. However, the third section of the volume narrows in on the defining issue of 1909 and 1910 - the crafting of the "People's Budget" and the curbing of the powers of the House of Lords. By the time of publication the Lords had yet to reject the budget and, to many people, the idea of them actually doing it was almost inconceivable. In the final speech of the book, delivered in October 1909, Churchill seemed to share that view.

"In common with most of us who are here tonight, I hold that the rejection of the Budget by the House of Lords would be a constitutional outrage. I do not think we are entitled at this stage to assume that such an outrage will be committed. We cannot credit such intentions, even though we read them every day brutally and blatantly affirmed by a powerful Party Press. We do not credit such intentions. We are, however, bound to be fully prepared against all contingencies".

In the event such preparation was fully justified.

Liberalism and the Social Problem is commoner than Mr. Brodrick's Army and For Free Trade. That, however, is not saying a great deal. The first edition was published in 1909 by Hodder and Stoughton with a print run of 5,000 copies spread over two printings. Of these 465 were used for the American issue. In 1975 Haskell House produced a second American edition. The print run is unknown but must have been extremely small because, like so many other reprints of the 70's and 80's this has become a rarity in its own right. The appearance in the Collected Works did little to alleviate the scarcity, due to the absurd pricing of the sets, but Mark Weber performed a service in binding and releasing unused sheets of the 'Five Early Speeches' volume. However, at the time of this writing (May 2007) it seems that relief is finally in sight and that Arc Manor have released an affordable paperback edition which appears to be in plentiful supply.

Liberalism and the Social Problem has appeared in Italian, making it the earliest speech volume to be translated.

Click here to browse all editions of Liberalism and the Social Problem